Wild Soul
by Ranchan2k3
Summary: For most people, death is the end of the story. For Ranma Saotome, the end is anything but.
1. A Hero's Farewell, A Hero's Arrival

**DISCLAIMER:** "Ranma 1/2" and "Bleach" are the property of their respective copyright holders. The universes and characters of the aforementioned series are used here solely as a tribute to these works and I in no way expect to make a profit off of the publication of this story.

* * *

" **Wild Soul"**

 **By**

 **Ranchan2k3**

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 **Chapter 1: A Hero's Farewell, A Hero's Arrival**

* * *

 _ **Saotome-Tendo Unified School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts**_

 _ **Tokyo, Japan**_

 _ **April 27, ?**_

"We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of a true hero," intoned the sorrowful priest. "We are here to mourn the passing of Ranma Saotome, Grandmaster of the Saotome-Tendo Unified School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, who one week ago, in the midst of a typhoon, destroyed an incoming moon-sized meteor, saving the entire world from certain destruction, but in doing so used every last ounce of energy in his – or, rather, her – body. As he lay dying, his thoughts turned not to his own welfare, but to everyone else's. His last words, and I believe I'm quoting here: 'Maybe now everybody'll stop fighting each other over the same stupid crap as always.' And so, let us pray…"

The gathering at the dojo that afternoon was less of a funeral and more of a hero's farewell. Everyone in the Nerima ward had turned up, of course, but so had representatives of the Musk, the Phoenix, and the Amazons in China, including a visibly older Herb, the adult version of Saffron, and a very old woman with just enough purple in her hair to identify her as Shampoo. What none of them realized, however, was that this gathering had an audience.

A rather… _spirited_ audience, one might say.

"Man, even Ryoga found his way here," mused the spirit in question. Yes, it was the spirit of Ranma, female version, witnessing her own funeral. "Sucks I had to die in female form, though. Must be why my ghost self or whatever is female. But it's not like I could stop the typhoon, boil a kettle, _and_ blow up the meteor. At least most of the world seems happy about it, though those weird Sailor chicks seem a bit perturbed. Or maybe that was just that one with the big-ass key. I wonder what the hell a 'Great Freeze' is supposed to be…eh, it's probably not important."

"You're right; it's not," rumbled a male voice from behind her.

Instantly spinning around, the spirit of the old-man-turned-young-woman found herself staring up at a tall man with spiky black hair, an eye patch, bells on the ends of his hair spikes, and a black uniform that was somewhat reminiscent of an old time samurai. He had a broad grin on his face and a well-worn samurai sword resting on his shoulder. He was accompanied by a young-looking girl with pink hair who was dressed similarly to the way he was dressed. Ranma sweatdropped a bit at the sight of them. "Uh…hi?"

The pink-haired girl giggled. "Wow, Kenny, I think we managed to weird Red out a little."

The large man scoffed. "T'ch, not likely. She just wasn't expecting us. After all, she's used to sensing ki, not spiritual pressure. Anyone with her power that had experience with it would know how to suppress it so the Hollows don't find her."

The girl nodded. "True."

Ranma cleared her throat. "Uh, guys? Can either of you two explain who you are and what's goin' on here?"

The tall man grunted. "I'll take care of it. I'm Squad 11 Captain, Kenpachi Zaraki. This is my lieutenant, Yachiru. We're soul reapers. Now, normally, when a soul dies, we send them on to face whatever afterlife they've got waitin' for 'em. But you, Ranma Saotome? Heh, you've caught the eye of a lot of folks in the upper levels of the Soul Society. In short, you're gettin' recruited, kid. No wastin' time among the common folks for you, it's straight to the academy for training."

Ranma blinked a bit. "Um, okay, I suppose. But why?"

Kenpachi smirked at her. "Why? Because it ain't every day we find a newly dead soul who's already got a spiritual pressure on the level of a soul reaper Captain."

Yachiru grinned. "Yeah, you're so powerful that we didn't have any problems tracking you at all. But that's why we really gotta get going. The Hollows will be here soon, and a soul as powerful as yours, without training? You'd be the best meal they've ever had."

Ranma gulped. "Okay, yeah, I'll pass on being eaten. Let's go."

* * *

 _ **Soul Society**_

 _ **Soul Reaper Academy**_

 _ **First Year Combat Skill Assessment**_

"Alright, newbies, fall in!"

At the barked command, the first year class in the academy's large dojo quickly got in line, standing shoulder to shoulder and at attention. A moment later, in marched a rather stern-looking woman, obviously the sensei of the dojo. Trailing behind her was Ranma, a neutral expression on her face. The two stopped in front of the class and turned to face them as the dojo sensei addressed her class. "Okay, newbies, we got new blood joining us today. Her name's Ranma Saotome. Word from the top is she was a real hot shot martial artist when she was alive: She took down the Phoenix demi-god Saffron at the tender age of 17, and her last act on Earth was using a blast of her own life energy to blow up a moon-sized meteor that had 'good-bye Earth' written all over it. She's here so we can find out if all of that was because of skill or just some fluke of nature. You, Yamaguchi!"

A large slab of beef in human form stepped forward. "Yes, sensei?"

"The consensus is you're the best fighter here, right? Well, you get to break in the new girl. Don't hold back! Either she's as good as advertised or she hits the bricks! Begin!"

The giant man nodded, then flash-stepped towards Ranma…only to then end up flat on his face, one arm bent painfully back behind him with Ranma calmly bracing a knee in the small of his back. "Lesson one," she stated flatly as the rest of the class broke out in shocked murmurs, "never charge an unknown opponent head-on. You're only inviting a quick defeat."

She released her hold and let him back up, taking a few steps away. Yamaguchi got back up with a frown, approaching more cautiously this time. He tried a jab, which Ranma casually leaned away from. Two more jabs were dodged with an equal amount of ease, as was the more serious right cross that followed. The big man growled, then threw a powerful straight right…which was caught and redirected into a Judo throw that sent him crashing into the wall of the dojo.

"Lesson two," spoke Ranma again, "be patient. If you get frustrated and over-commit to an attack, you deserve whatever happens to you."

Yamaguchi dragged himself up off the floor with another growl, then grabbed one of the kendo practice swords off the wall and charged at Ranma with it. She dodged his anger-fueled overhead strike with a side-step, then slammed a roundhouse kick into the back of his head, one that put him down and out of the fight. "Lesson three," she intoned casually, "no matter how good you are, there's always someone better out there."

The dojo sensei stepped forward with a sigh. "Alright, the new blood's as good as advertised. Someone call Squad 4 to get Yamaguchi's carcass out of here. Maybe some time in the infirmary will teach him some self-control."

* * *

 _ **Soul Society**_

 _ **Soul Reaper Academy**_

 _ **Headmaster's Office**_

The office of a particular school's Headmaster should ideally at a glance give you a good idea of both the school itself and the man or woman in charge of the institution. The office of the Headmaster of Soul Reaper Academy was no exception to this expectation, looking almost like the sort of office one might expect to find in the home of a feudal Japanese daimyo. Behind the desk was, of course, the Headmaster, Gotei 13 Captain-Commander Genryusai Yamamoto, and seated across from him was the sensei of the academy's dojo, Rukia Kuchiki.

"So, Kuchiki," began the Headmaster, "now that you've had a chance to assess this year's batch of new recruits, I'd like to hear your honest opinions on them."

Rukia nodded. "Well, most of them are about what we've come to expect, I suppose – a few with some potential, most of them won't even be seated members in whatever squad they end up assigned to. There is one, though…"

The Headmaster smiled. "You would be referring to young Ranma, I assume, yes?"

The sensei nodded in agreement. "Got it in one, chief. Truthfully I don't know that she even needs the academy. Show her how to summon her Zanpakuto and give her a quick briefing on what soul reapers do and she could be out in the field tomorrow. I've never had a new recruit with her skill and strength; she could be a Captain just about any time she wanted to. Hell, she spent half her time in today's skill assessment correcting mistakes in the new recruits' technique that _I_ didn't even catch!"

A grin came to Genryusai's face. "Yes, she's quite something, isn't she?"

Rukia frowned. "You expected this. Just who is this girl, this…Ranma Saotome?"

The Headmaster folded his hands on his desk. "A soul tailor made for being a soul reaper. She's a sponge for anything related to combat, but beyond that she is perhaps the most selfless defender of the innocent we've seen here in a very long time. You've read her file; if anything, I'd say it was understated."

"Did she really take down Saffron when she was only 17?"

"Indeed," confirmed the Headmaster. "Oh, she had a little bit of help, of course, but make no mistake: It was Ranma Saotome who struck the finishing blow, and in fact the only reason the fight wasn't over in five minutes or less was because of Saffron's regeneration. She had him completely outclassed in terms of power, speed, and skill, and thanks to her consumption of a Phoenix Pill several months previously, she was very nearly immune to his flame attacks. It was quite a show for us up here in Soul Society. The battle remodeled a large chunk of China's Bayankala mountain range and destroyed the legendary Jusenkyo training ground. The sudden freeing of more than a hundred previously trapped spirits had our soul reapers rather busy for a while."

Kuchiki snorted. "I can imagine. Then it's also true about the meteor?"

The Headmaster nodded. "It is. I understand that meteor may have been connected to a prophecy or two that Ranma's intervention rather thoroughly disrupted. Too bad for them, I suppose, but that act more than anything is what convinced us to take a chance on recruiting a wild soul like Ranma Saotome. You may feel that she might not need the academy, but our feeling is that she does. Not for any real combat training – she could learn the basic soul reaper style inside of a week at most – but to teach her that relying on a teammate is not a sign of weakness. There is a lot of psychological damage buried under that calm and collected warrior façade, and I intend for it to be healed before I authorize her graduation. Understand?"

Rukia simply nodded.

* * *

 _ **Soul Society**_

 _ **Soul Reaper Academy**_

 _ **Journal of Ranma Saotome, Entry #1**_

 _So last week I blew up a giant space rock and died._

 _That sounds like it'd be the end of the story, but it's not._

 _See, today, I attended my own funeral, and it was there I met a couple of soul reapers. Apparently they'd been sent to recruit me. Since my options appeared to be train with the soul reapers or stick around and be Hollow food, I chose the training._

 _It started with a combat skill assessment. Sensei Rukia Kuchiki seemed a bit strict, but I can tell she knows what she's doing. Probably more of a field agent than a dojo sensei, though; I swear I must've spent half my time in the skill assessment pointing out what the other new recruits were doing wrong, mistakes that she didn't even seem to notice._

 _And what was up with that Yamaguchi guy? He seemed really hot-headed. Man, it'd be just my luck if I acquired a rival my first freakin' day in the academy._

 _Anyway, I'm really looking forward to seeing what my future holds here in the Soul Society. Everything I've heard makes it sound like this soul reaper gig is tailor made for someone like me. Everybody I've met seems nice and relatively sane so far (knock on wood), although that one Captain with the clown face kinda creeps me out. What was his name, Mayuri or something? I passed him on the way to my dorm room and I swear I heard him muttering my name along with the words "research" and "experiments."_

 _Please tell me I heard wrong. It'd look really bad if I punched out a Captain my first week at the academy._

 _Whoops, there's the call for lights out. Gotta go to bed now. G'night!_

* * *

 _ **End Chapter 1.**_

* * *

 _Author's Note: Yes, I'm starting another one. Yes, I'm still working on "Outside Intervention," I'm just stuck partway through Chapter 9. Anyway, this one's a crossover between Ranma and Bleach. I know a few fics have crossed these two already, but I don't think any of them have done it quite like I'm going to. Anyway, look forward to Chapter 2, and I hope like hell it doesn't take me several months to get it done. Later, taters! ^_^_


	2. Experiments in Friendship

**DISCLAIMER** : Like I said last time, I don't own either "Ranma 1/2" or "Bleach." This is a fanfiction written purely for the enjoyment of myself and anyone who might be interested. I make no money off of this, a fact which makes my wallet cry.

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" **Wild Soul"**

 **by**

 **Ranchan2k3**

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 **Chapter 2: Experiments in Friendship**

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 _ **Soul Society**_

 _ **Soul Reaper Academy**_

 _ **Common Area**_

"Let's see…I think a Surge and a honey bun sounds good for a quick snack," muttered Ranma to herself as she stood in front of the vending machines in the academy's common student lounge area. As she acquired her selected soda and snack, she popped the top on the can and then turned away while taking a sip…only to walk directly into the path of a black-haired girl who was carrying a load of files and papers, a load that naturally went flying everywhere when the two collided and the girl landed on her rump with a surprised squeak.

"Aw, jeez, I'm sorry," quickly apologized Ranma. "I wasn't payin' attention. Here, lemme help ya pick this stuff up." She squatted down to start picking up papers. "I'm Ranma Saotome, by the way, first year student here at the academy. And you are?"

The girl timidly answered, "Nemu Kurotsuchi, Lieutenant of Squad 12, Research & Development."

The red-head nodded, grinning slightly. "Yeah, I figured ya weren't one o' the combat types. So where're you off to with all this stuff in such a ru-"

"NEMU! WHERE ARE MY PAPERS?!," roared a raspy voice from down the hall. If possible, Nemu seemed to withdraw into herself even further. A moment later, the clown-faced Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi of Squad 12 came storming into the common area. "How hard is it to bring me my files in a timely manner?! These papers are important for my research!" The Captain reared back as if to slap Nemu, who braced for the impact. There was a loud smack and a heavy crash, but it wasn't Nemu who got hit. As Nemu peeked one eye open, she was surprised to see Ranma standing over her with her right fist extended in a follow-through position, a snarl of anger on her face and an incandescent glow surrounding her. As for Mayuri, he was laying in what used to be one of the tables in the common area, a fist-shaped bruise already forming on his left cheek.

"Don't you _ever_ ," quietly seethed the red-head, "make a move to strike one of your underlings again, or so help me, Captain or no Captain, you will discover first-hand what happens when somebody who's already dead gets killed again. Do you understand me, you son of a bitch?"

Mayuri staggered back up to his feet, glaring at Ranma. "…Bah. Such a caveman response. You'll be a shoo-in for Squad 11 with that kind of mentality."

"And you'll be a shoo-in for my foot up your ass if you don't go back to your lab," growled Ranma. " _Now_."

Mayuri snorted, but left. Nemu quietly stood, looking unsure of herself. Ranma exhaled, her spiritual pressure subsiding to normal levels, then she turned to look at Nemu. "…So. That was a thing that happened."

Nemu blinked. Then blinked again. Then – she couldn't help it – she giggled.

* * *

 _ **Soul Society**_

 _ **Soul Reaper Academy**_

 _ **Headmaster's Office**_

"…And then I punched him in his stupid made-up face," reported Ranma from where she was standing in front of the Headmaster's desk. "And I'd do it again in a nanosecond. If you're expecting me to apologize to that abusive mad scientist, you'd have better luck convincing the Hollows to go on a diet."

The Headmaster chuckled. "No, no, that's quite all right. I'll see to it this incident is added to Captain Mayuri's personnel file. Dismissed."

Ranma nodded, then turned and left. A moment later, Soi Fon materialized from the shadows of one corner of the office. "That was her?"

The Headmaster nodded. "Indeed. A woman of strong convictions, wouldn't you say?"

Soi Fon snorted. "To say the least. She'll be an asset wherever she gets assigned if she can be convinced to follow orders."

The Headmaster grinned. "Well, as long as the orders in question don't conflict with her personal code of honor, I don't foresee that being a problem."

Soi Fon nodded, then vanished into the shadows again.

* * *

 _ **Soul Society**_

 _ **Soul Reaper Academy**_

 _ **Zanpakuto Summoning**_

It was weeks after the "Captain Mayuri Incident," as it had come to be known among the academy first years. Ranma and Nemu had formed something of a tentative friendship following that, a fact which had not gone unnoticed among the soul reapers of the Soul Society. Mayuri was generally the same as always, but he never hurt Nemu physically after that incident, a fact which had Squad 11 Captain Kenpachi Zaraki grinning like a madman and already making plans to petition for Ranma to be assigned to his squad when she graduated.

Now it was time to find out what kind of Zanpakuto she had.

The class was gathered and seated on their knees in front of Soi Fon, the instructor for this class. "For the last few weeks," she lectured, "you've all been working with practice swords and performing specific meditation exercises. This all led you to today, the summoning of your Zanpakuto. Your Zanpakuto is more than just a weapon. It is your partner, a part of you, an expression of your very soul. Over time, allies and enemies may change allegiances or even vanish altogether, but your Zanpakuto will always remain your truest ally. You all know what to do; get to it."

And get to it they did, the class falling into meditation as various colored auras sprang up among them. The largest of the bunch surrounded Ranma, who was looking both intensely focused and somehow intensely peaceful at the same time. One by one, the class summoned their Zanpakutos, and with only a few very slight variations, they appeared to be fairly standard. Ranma's took a bit longer, and the reason for that soon became obvious as she summoned not one but two swords, both meant to be wielded with one hand. Soi Fon blinked in surprise as the class came out of their meditative states to examine their newly summoned weapons. "Well. It appears that at least one of you is ticketed for greener pastures. Student Saotome, congratulations on a Zanpakuto summoning that skipped right past the initial state and materialized in its first release."

Ranma nodded faintly. "Um, thanks." Then, more quietly, "I'm a dual-wielder? Can't even have a normal Zanpakuto, can I? Jeez…" A few classmates nearby quietly snickered at Ranma's grousing. Soi Fon looked faintly amused, but didn't respond.

* * *

 _ **Soul Society**_

 _ **Soul Reaper Academy**_

 _ **Journal of Ranma Saotome, Entry #2**_

 _Wow, it's been an eventful few weeks here at the academy. I'm not even sure where to begin._

 _I guess I'll start with the day after my last entry. I met Lt. Nemu Kurotsuchi of Squad 12, quite literally bumping into her by the vending machines in the student lounge. Seems I was right to worry about that Mayuri guy, though. While I was helping Nemu pick up the papers she'd dropped, Mayuri came stomping around the corner, berating Nemu without even giving her a chance to explain._

 _Then he tried to hit her._

 _Instinct took over, and the next thing I knew, he was laying in the ruins of what used to be a pretty nice mahogany table._

 _Anyway, the good news is, I didn't get punished for decking the psycho clown, and I made friends with Nemu. She's a shy one, and sometimes it seems like she doesn't believe she deserves to be treated like a human being, but I'm determined I'm gonna break her out of her shell._

 _And that brings me to today, where we summoned our Zanpakutos for the first time. I'm convinced now that I'm just not meant to be normal in anything, not even in being a soul reaper. My Zanpakuto materialized in its first release state, and guess what? It's two one-handed swords instead of just a single samurai sword._

 _I'm a dual-wielder. Now I get to see if I remember how to fight with two swords at once._

 _Joy._

 _Ah, well. At least I can't say it's boring around here. I'm already kind of a hero among the academy first years just for punching out Mayuri and getting away with it, and now this. I've overheard some of my classmates wondering if I'm actually a soul reaper Captain on a spy mission inside the academy's first year class. A little ridiculous, I guess, but I suppose I can see where they might get that idea._

 _I wonder what tomorrow's classes will be like. I guess as long as I don't run into that Mayuri clown again, I'll consider it a good day._

 _And there's the call for lights out. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty tired. G'night._

* * *

 _ **End Chapter 2.**_

* * *

 _Author's Note: I was without Internet access for a while and decided I'd go ahead and write Chapter 2 while I waited for it to be restored. Who knows, maybe I'll even have Chapter 3 typed up before I get my Internet back. We'll see. Later!_


End file.
